Get a colorful infographic about the Life of a Ballot.
There are a few reasons why this might happen:
If you make a mistake while voting, it's OK to cross out the incorrect vote and then vote the way you want to.
That’s OK. If you sign the affidavit of someone else who lives at your address, simply have them sign your affidavit. If you like, you can add a note to each affidavit that says, “household mix-up.” Our staff will then be able to match your signatures at the time of processing.
That’s OK. If your ballot is received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, the date won’t matter.
No. The yellow envelope is intended for mailing in your Early Ballot. Therefore, you do not need it if you plan to return your ballot to a drop-off location. Simply take your ballot in your affidavit envelope to any ballot drop-off location!
Yes! To ensure the security of mailed ballots, you must sign an affidavit promising that it is your ballot and you voted it. You can take your ballot to an Early Voting or Ballot Replacement site and get a new affidavit envelope. Remember to bring identification because the affidavit envelope must be matched to your voter record. You can find a list of acceptable forms of ID here. If you prefer to have it mailed to you, we will mail a new ballot packet. You can request one here: Recorder.Pima.gov/BallotByMailRequest or call 520-724-4330.
Our ability to match your signature on the ballot affidavit and the signature we have on file for you is a critical step in the security of mailed ballots. Often the last signature we have on file was from a registration form you filled out when you registered at 18! A person’s signature changes a lot. There are multiple ways to make sure that your signature is up to date:
If you are unable to sign your affidavit due to a physical injury or illness, please call our office at 520-724-4330 and let us know. We will ask you some security questions to verify we are speaking to the correct person. We can put a note in your file to avoid a delay in processing your ballot. Please be sure to have the person who assisted you fill out the appropriate section of the affidavit. If we do not have record of a physical limitation in your file and your affidavit shows that you were assisted, we will simply call or text you to verify that you gave permission to be assisted in voting your ballot. Please be on the lookout for calls from our office asking you to call 520-724-4309. Please note that a developmental or mental disability does not qualify for assistance in filling out your ballot.
There are a couple of ways you can get a status update on your ballot. You can go to Recorder.Pima.gov/BallotInfo and enter your information. You’ll find out whether you’re eligible for the current election, and if you are, where your ballot is in the election process.
Early Voters who receive a ballot by mail or vote at an Early Voting Location can also sign up to be automatically notified about your Early Ballot envelope. You can sign up at Recorder.Pima.gov/BallotInfo, and you’ll see where your ballot is from the printer to the mailbox, all the way until it’s turned over to the Elections Department for tabulation. This system does not change or update your voter registration in any way.
Once you opt in, you’ll start getting updates on your ballot from that point on. The image shown is an example of what a text notification from us will look like.
The final notification will be that your ballot was turned over to the Elections Department in a specific batch. The Elections Department will then open the Ballot Affidavit envelope, separating it from the ballot, at which point the ballot then becomes anonymous.
Ballots cast on Election Day require no further confirmation. They are already accepted by the Elections Department to be tabulated.
Our office will send a text or email if we have that information on file. We will ask you to call 520-724-4330 to verify that you did vote your ballot and signed your affidavit.
This process is called “Ballot Curing” and many groups have a vested interest in making sure your ballot gets counted. Because of this, you may receive multiple texts or phone calls telling you that you need to call us to verify your signature. Information reaching these groups takes time. Please be patient and understand that although you may have already called us, these organizations may not have gotten the message yet. Just one more reason to sign your affidavit and keep your voter file updated!
The Arizona Secretary of State offers an easy text-to-cure program that allows you to verify your identity and signature via a secure text message platform. If you select this option, you’ll be sent instructions about sending a picture of your valid ID and confirming that you did indeed sign that affidavit. It is a wonderful program that assists us in counting your ballot!
In these situations, we will send you a new Voter Registration form to update your signature.
Only household members, family or caregivers are allowed to drop off ballots for other than their own.
Provisional ballots provide protection for the voter by allowing us to further investigate a voter’s eligibility to vote without delaying the voter at a voting site. Most ballots that are voted provisionally do count! Our office processes provisional ballots by 10 days after Election Day depending on the type of election. There is no difference in the ballot, and this usually occurs when there is a change in the voter’s record close to registration deadlines or if a voter’s registration is incomplete and our office was unable to reach the voter. On some rare occasions, a mistake is made when entering the information into the voter registration record. A provisional ballot allows the voter to vote the ballot they think they should while we investigate their record.
If you vote a provisional ballot at a Vote Center on Election Day, you will be given a receipt with a number that you can use to check your provisional ballot status. Those updates will be available after the deadline to process provisional ballots as outlined above.
If you voted a provisional ballot at an Early Voting site, you can track your ballot status on our website. If your status does not change, then our procedures found that for some reason, you were not eligible to vote. You may call our office to find out the status or to inquire about the reason for disqualification at 520-724-4330.
Write the candidate's name in the space provided AND fill in the oval in front of the name. A list of write-in candidates is available on the Elections Department website or call their office at 520-724-6830.
Even though your address states you live in the city of Tucson, you may not live in the official voting boundaries of the city. Check your voting district boundaries here: Recorder.Pima.gov/DistrictMaps
We understand that knowing how to vote for a candidate or on an issue can be overwhelming. We cannot tell you how to vote, but there are some resources available to you. If you’d like more information about candidates on your ballot, we recommend looking at voter education information from the Arizona Clean Elections Commission, League of Women Voters, City of Tucson voters and the Pima County School Superintendent’s Office.
No! It is a crime to vote more than once in an election. To confirm whether you’ve voted, go to Recorder.Pima.gov/BallotInfo. Or call 520-724-4330.
Still have a question?
Call the Recorder’s Office
(520) 724-4330